Alexis Gritchenko (1883-1977) was a painter, art critic, whose creative work is closely connected with Ukraine, Russia and France. In 1910-ies he developed his own art direction — colordynamos, based on the cubism principles and formal language of icons. In post-revolutional Moscow in Art Culture Museum (1919-1929)

Gritchenko’s colordynamos were shown side by side with Shevchenko’s primitivism,
Kandinsky’s expressionism and Malevich’s suprematism.

Why were colordynamos forgotten? Is it because forgotten is equal to unimportant? But who remembered Malevich, Boichuk, Bogomazov in 1950-70-ies? Why did the contemporaries regard colordynamos as an independent phenomenon of avant-garde? How did Gritchenko’s art evolve when he left Moscow in 1919, spent two years in Constantinople, went to Greece and then to Paris to stay in France for good?

What place does he take among the representatives of Paris school? What is his significance for Ukrainian art of XX century? More than 40 years have passed since Gritchenko’s death, and a serious monograph to encompass all his creative development is timely. There is also a great desire to show the artist’s works in exhibitions in Kyiv and Paris. About the author of the monograph. The
text of the book is being prepared by Vita Susak, Candidate of Art Studies, her famous book is «Украинские художники Парижа. 1900-1939» (Ukrainian Artists of Paris) (Rodovid, 2010). She has been studying Gritchenko’s art for many years. A lot of new facts and documents are going to
be published in the book for the first time; they uncover the artist’s abundant biography, no less colourful and dynamic than his art.

The monograph is going to be richly illustrated with Gritchenko’s art from museums and private collections of the world (Kyiv, Paris, Moscow, Petersburg, Vladivostok, Philadelphia, New York etc.) «I can paint only when I am happy» – Oleksa Gritchenko used to say, and so he did in spite of all the ordeals and dramatic events of the XX century. The vivid energy of his art must fill the blank in the art history of XX century and make XXI century people happier.

Michel Lièvre Markovitch, initiator of the publication, author of the foreword

Born in France in 1961, he knew from childhood that he came from the wellknown line of Markovitch (Markovych) Cossack starshynas. He studied economics and now works as a financier—undoubtedly carrying on the tradition of his ancestors who were ministers of finance for the Hetmanate: general treasurers of the Zaporozhian Sich Andrii Markovych (1674–1747) and his son Yakiv (1696–1770), who left behind his 10-volume Diary, a valuable historical document on the day-to-day politics and culture of life in 18th-century Ukraine.
As an adult, Michel went to the Chernihiv region to look for his roots, but instead “found” Alexis Gritchenko, the artist from Krolovets who lived and died in France. He was awed by his work, especially the avant-garde period. In a short time, he amassed what is likely the largest private collection of works by Gritchenko and quite nearly became the leading expert on his artistic output. He has decided to publish a book on the artist and organize an exhibition of his works.
Michel was aided in coordinating the publication of Alexis Gritchenko: Dynamocolor by his wife, Maryna Litvinchouk, the director of Malabar Art LTD.

Vita Susak, author

Born in Lviv in 1966, she published her first article on Alexis Gritchenko in the journal Vsesvit in 1990. In 1997 she defended her PhD dissertation in Moscow on the subject, “Alexis Gritchenko in the Art Life of 1910s Moscow.” From 1992 to 2016 she worked as the chief of the Department of European Art (19th and 20th Centuries) at the Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery. She is the author of nearly 70 academic publications in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, France, Italy, and Germany. In 2010 Rodovid Press published her monograph Ukraïnski mysttsi Paryzha. 1900–1939 / Ukrainian Artists in Paris: 1900–1939 in Ukrainian and in English. The French-language version, Les Artistes Ukrainiens à Paris. 1900–1939, was published in 2012.
This publication on Alexis Gritchenko is yet one more fruit from the collaboration between Vita Susak and Rodovid.